What exactly is .mac?

[PapaNoHair]

Since they mention a free trial it obviously costs (after the free period). Is it worth it? Is it similar to the extra services you get from Yahoo when you pay the yearly fee?

 

[OneWorld22]

Well...

You get in effect your own server. You can publish your own website at your own address. You can use their iDisk where you can store files, folders etc and access them anywhere, and you can use it to sync your mail, address book etc

I'm a new mac user to am in the trial period with this. Don't know if I'll pay for it though..

 

[kaidomac]

I got it for my wife, but she never uses it. Just get a backup hard drive and iBackup/SuperDuper for backing up your files. Their web servers are wicked slow; I'm not pleased with how slowly the web pages load at all. The email service is nice, although I personally perfer Yahoo or Gmail for webmail.

 

[brendan67]

.mac

Well...

You get in effect your own server. You can publish your own website at your own address. You can use their iDisk where you can store files, folders etc and access them anywhere, and you can use it to sync your mail, address book etc

I'm a new mac user to am in the trial period with this. Don't know if I'll pay for it though..

i bet you do buy an account when your trial is up, its like a bug when you get
used to it you won't want to be without it.

i love .mac its so much more mac than anything else and well worth the investment :mac:

 

[NanoBite]

Since they mention a free trial it obviously costs (after the free period). Is it worth it? Is it similar to the extra services you get from Yahoo when you pay the yearly fee?

The thing about a .mac account is its integration with OS X. Apple make it a breeze.

The best advice would be to do the research (which you're doing) and compare the services/costs etc.

Another similiar service may not integrate as well with the OS but be cheaper and offer more for the money etc. :headphone

 

[PapaNoHair]

Well...

You get in effect your own server. You can publish your own website at your own address. You can use their iDisk where you can store files, folders etc and access them anywhere, and you can use it to sync your mail, address book etc

I'm a new mac user to am in the trial period with this. Don't know if I'll pay for it though..

Finally located the price - seems kind of steep. Will have to give it a lot of thought during my free period.

 

[Daddy Elmis]

I think .Mac is useful if you have multiple computers and want the email, calendar, etc., to be sync'd across the machines. There are lots of IMAP services out there, but as Pulse-8 says the integration with OSX is worth something.

I've got about 6 months left on the first year deal to decide on switching to another service (or trying to do my own Mac server).

 

[Andy_M]

I think .Mac is useful if you have multiple computers and want the email, calendar, etc., to be sync'd across the machines. There are lots of IMAP services out there, but as Pulse-8 says the integration with OSX is worth something.

I've got about 6 months left on the first year deal to decide on switching to another service (or trying to do my own Mac server).

Even tho i run several web sites from a good host (MT)
i will be getting the .Mac service when i order my iMac on Friday.

I feel that it will help me create a personal site that i could share a blog with and photos that IL be taking with ease rather than getting in golive and start designing something.

I do like the backup idea with 1Gb space.. OK its not the world leader in mass space but it will do for my personal docs and iLife projects.

I cant really comment on it as i don't use the service yet apart from the email and i just would like to inform you i will be getting it

 

[PapaNoHair]

I think .Mac is useful if you have multiple computers and want the email, calendar, etc., to be sync'd across the machines. There are lots of IMAP services out there, but as Pulse-8 says the integration with OSX is worth something.

I've got about 6 months left on the first year deal to decide on switching to another service (or trying to do my own Mac server).

That is what I was thinking. I only have the one computer and basically I can get the same (or greater) service for free from Gmail, Yahoo (small cost) or Opera. Only thing in the other column is the "prestige" of having a "Mac" address and, in effect, bragging with everymail sent or received that I have a Mac.

 

[Andy_M]

That is what I was thinking. I only have the one computer and basically I can get the same (or greater) service for free from Gmail, Yahoo (small cost) or Opera. Only thing in the other column is the "prestige" of having a "Mac" address and, in effect, bragging with everymail sent or received that I have a Mac.

Yep i would agree with that statment.

its a shame you cant keep the .mac email even if they spammed it a lil on every footer of an email message. but thats what makes them unique... a paid email with no bull ****.

 

[rogerinlondon]

I got it for my wife, but she never uses it. Just get a backup hard drive and iBackup/SuperDuper for backing up your files. Their web servers are wicked slow; I'm not pleased with how slowly the web pages load at all. The email service is nice, although I personally perfer Yahoo or Gmail for webmail.

Do you get more than one mail address per account or would you and your wife have to get two .mac subscriptions in case you both wanted to use it even if you were using the same machine with saparate user accounts?

 

[Andrew F]

How much it the subscription? I looked around a little the other day but couldn't find much.

 

[christm]

i have .mac

i like it as it backs up all of my school course work (very important) so if i laptop went bang etc... i would have all of my work.

i also like the email and your personal website

heres a link to mine

http://homepage.mac.com/christm3/PhotoAlbum66.html

the pages can be a bit slow to load but overal i find .mac reliable and fast enough.

i did the trial 2x and loved it

do the trial and see what you think of it

chris tm

its costs

100 $
or on the uk website

£ 69

i find it worth the money but they should offer discount to renewals

 

[Daddy Elmis]

I believe each user needs an account, and there's one email box per account. The current fee is $99 per year per user, or $179 for a "family account" (1 master and 4 sub accounts, each with its own email).

There are lots of IMAP email service providers out there, and most are cheaper than .Mac if what you primarily want is IMAP email. The integration of the iLife sync might make .Mac appealing, even at $100 per user.

I guess I don't see the prestige factor in "[email protected]." I'd rather have my own domain so I could have "[email protected]"

 

[climbguy]

I would expect a third party to roll out an intigrated product for less.

 

[PapaNoHair]

I would expect a third party to roll out an intigrated product for less.

I am surprised that no one has. If it has "Mac" in it and is cheaper then people would automatically gravitate to it. Linux has quite a few of these such as linuxmail.org, etc.

 

[rogerinlondon]

I believe each user needs an account, and there's one email box per account. The current fee is $99 per year per user, or $179 for a "family account" (1 master and 4 sub accounts, each with its own email).

Now found out that you can subscribe for additional mail addresses for $10 per year as long as you have one full account.

 

[VTECMAN]

I like gmail and the google calendar.. easily accessible from anywhere.

 

[R1 Lod]

I like gmail and the google calendar.. easily accessible from anywhere.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the CEO of Google coming onboard with Mac.

 

[D3v1L80Y]

I am surprised that no one has. If it has "Mac" in it and is cheaper then people would automatically gravitate to it.

If someone did that...and put "Mac" in it... then I am sure that Apple would get all lawyered-up and sue the living crap out of that person/company.
:black:

In other words, I am not surprised that nobody has done this as of yet.